Another View: Charter schools outperform traditional public schools in largest urban areas, including Flint

As the Legislature considers new laws for charter schools, we wish to correct erroneous information being published about public school academies.

In an apples-to-apples comparison, charter schools outperform traditional public schools on the MEAP by 10 to 15 percent in our largest urban areas including Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Flint. The Michigan Department of Education reported that only 33 percent of Detroit Public Schools met AYP last year, compared to 70 percent of Detroit’s charter schools. And MEAP research shows that students enrolled at the same charter school for three years meet or beat the statewide average in math and reading.

The same is true for graduation rates. A disproportionately large percentage of charter school students enroll in at-risk high schools and strict discipline academies after they fail to succeed in traditional public schools. When that is factored in, the charter high school graduation rate compares favorably to the state’s average graduation rate.

Charter schools are public schools, held to the same standards of accountability as traditional public schools. However, they are far more accountable for their performance. Public charter schools have to answer to an authorizing body — a public institution that provides guidance, monitoring and oversight. When charter schools fail, they’re closed down. Authorizers have closed over 50 underperforming charter schools over the last 17 years. Not a single poor-performing traditional public school has been closed in that time. That means that students from closed charters returned to the same low-achieving traditional schools from which they had hoped to escape.

Concerns have been raised about the transparency of public charter school reporting to our parents and communities. Along with annual reports to the Legislature, the Michigan Department of Education provides an easily-accessible web report that includes each school’s authorizer, educational services provider, whether the school made AYP, its accreditation grade, and its state ranking for math/reading. Despite representations made by charter opponents, public charter school reporting is parallel to that of traditional public schools, and has undergone substantial scrutiny by the media.

Innovation in Michigan public charter schools takes many forms. For some children, it’s simply knowing they are finally in a safe learning environment. For others, it’s the chance to frame all learning in a school focused on the basics, or centered on a special academic area, or to learn in a culture that believes that every child deserves a second chance. It’s important to note that charter schools receive on average about $1,400 less per student than their neighboring traditional public schools. They are working to do a great job with less.

In Detroit, students at The Jalen Rose Leadership Academy attend class 211 days a year as they work to prepare for a successful future. The West Michigan Aviation Academy in Grand Rapids is located at an airport, where students can get an amazing head start on a career in the skies. Brighton’s FlexTech High School fits education to each student, which is perfect for anyone — from students working during the day to support their families, to elite athletes needing flexibility for competition. And in Holland, Black River Public School has earned the attention of the Washington Post. Using a statistical matrix that looks at how well schools prepare their students for college, they ranked it as the top public high school in the state.

It is time to embrace more parental choice in education. We need great public schools of every stripe — traditional and charter. We support the elimination of the university-authorized charter school cap and encourage the Legislature to pass Senate Bill 618.

– Nancy Danhoff, Eileen Wieser and Richard Zelie are members of the State Board of Education.